System and method for projecting graphical objects

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of projecting graphical objects are disclosed. In one example, a system includes a virtual reality (VR) rendering engine configured to generate a virtual reality space of a geographic region of interest with a graphical feature that represents a physical feature in the geographic region of interest. A display is configured to display a VR graphical user interface (GUI) with the generated virtual reality space and a menu including graphical objects. A graphical object may be placed on the graphical feature in the virtual reality space. A projector interface determines a projection surface on the physical feature based on the placement of the graphical object in the virtual reality space and generates instructions for a projector to project an image of the graphical object onto the projection surface in the physical feature of the geographic region of interest.

BACKGROUND

For a variety of events or situations, such as sporting events,celebrations, parties, or merely congested urban areas, large amounts ofpeople may congregate and generate a crowd. For such crowds, it isimportant to maintain order, such as via law-enforcement for publicsafety concerns. However, the more people that are in a crowded area,and the more confined the area, the more difficult it may be to dispersepeople in an orderly manner. Such order may be even more difficult tomaintain in moments of crisis. This is particularly true in urban areasin which visibility may be impeded by buildings, vehicles, or otherpeople that are densely gathered. Law enforcement is often present todirect people into and out of crowded areas, but the limited visibilityof law enforcement and/or people in the crowded area may cause confusionand/or delays. Additionally, emergency responders that are dispatched tocrowded areas may be delayed by crowds, and may thus have to rely onverbal directions from a dispatcher or other central source.Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for providingpublic safety information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a public safety information controllerin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a public safety information system inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a virtual reality graphical userinterface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example of a virtual reality graphical userinterface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another example of a virtual reality graphicaluser interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet a further example of a virtual reality graphicaluser interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a diagram of providing public safetyinformation in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates still yet another example of a virtual realitygraphical user interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates still further yet another example of a virtualreality graphical user interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of a diagram of providing publicsafety information in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates yet another example of a diagram of providing publicsafety information in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a method for providing public safetyinformation in accordance with some embodiments.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements inthe figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help toimprove understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

The apparatus and method components have been represented whereappropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only thosespecific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments ofthe present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with detailsthat will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of the description herein

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated inand form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explainvarious principles and advantages of those embodiments.

One example includes a method and system for projecting graphicalobjects. The system includes a virtual reality (VR) rendering engineconfigured to generate a virtual reality space of a geographic region ofinterest with a graphical feature that represents a physical feature ofthe geographic region of interest. The system also includes a displayconfigured to display a virtual reality graphical user interface (GUI)with the generated virtual reality space and a menu including graphicalobjects. The system also includes an electronic processor that detectsan input indicative of a placement of a graphical object in the virtualreality space. The system further includes a projector interface thatdetermines a projection surface on the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest based on the placement of the graphicalobjects in the virtual reality space and generates instructions for aprojector to project an image of the graphical object onto thedetermined projection surface in the physical feature of the geographicregion of interest.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a public safety information controller10 in accordance with some embodiments. The public safety informationcontroller 10 may be implemented in a variety of contexts to providepublic safety information to people in a crowd and/or to emergencyresponders in a crowded and/or urban environment. As described herein,the public safety information controller 10 may generate a virtualreality (VR) space corresponding to a geographic region of interest andto allow user interaction with the virtual reality space thatcorresponds to the geographic region of interest. The public safetyinformation controller 10 may facilitate the laser projection of thepublic safety information on one or more physical features of thegeographic region of interest based on the user interaction todisseminate the public safety information to the people in the crowdand/or the emergency responders. The public safety informationcontroller 10 may be used for a variety of public safety applications,such as to provide crowd control for evacuation, to display detours forpublic through-ways, and/or to provide instructions or direction toemergency responders. As an example, the public safety informationcontroller 10 may be located at a public safety vehicle, such as alaw-enforcement vehicle, or may be located at a dispatch center or in acentral dispatch vehicle.

The public safety information controller 10 includes a virtual realityrendering engine 12 that is configured to generate a virtual realityspace 14 of the geographic region of interest. The geographic region ofinterest may correspond to any geographic region occupied by people towhom the public safety information is to be visually conveyed, such asincluding one or more streets, intersections, city squares or blocks,public gathering sites, or the like. As described herein, the geographicregion of interest includes at least one physical feature thatcorresponds to a location on which the public safety information is tobe projected, such as a building, a hillside, a street surface, or anyother façade that is clearly visual to people that occupy the geographicregion of interest. In the example of FIG. 1, the virtual realityrendering engine 12 receives video image data (VID) of the geographicregion of interest, and generates the virtual reality space 14 based onthe video image data (VID). It is appreciated that still image datacould be provided to the virtual reality rendering engine 12 to generatethe virtual reality space 14 based on the still image data. Thus, thevirtual reality space 14 may visually represent the geographic region ofinterest, such that substantially all of the physical features of thegeographic region of interest are visually represented in the virtualreality space 14 as respective graphical features. Therefore, the atleast one physical feature corresponding to the location on which thepublic safety information is to be projected is likewise represented asa graphical feature in the virtual reality space 14.

The public safety information controller 10 is configured to display thevirtual reality space 14 to a user in a display system 16, and togenerate a graphical user interface (GUI) 18 to facilitate userinteraction with the virtual reality space 14. As an example, thedisplay system 16 may be implemented as a user-wearable virtual realityinterface and display system, such as a goggles and/or a helmet, alongwith an associated virtual reality input device (e.g., gloves, ahandheld controller, a mouse and/or a keyboard, or the like).Alternatively, the display system 16 may be implemented via a computersystem, such as a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer system. Thegraphical user interface 18 may provide one or more menus that mayprovide the user with a selectable context of public safety, such ascorresponding to crowd control, evacuation situations, emergencyresponses, or other public safety information contexts. Each of thecontexts may include an associated menu that provides the capability ofuser selection of a plurality of graphical objects. The user may thusprovide interaction of one or more of the graphical objects with one ormore of the graphical features in the virtual reality space 14 via thegraphical user interface 18 to display the public safety informationcorresponding to the graphical object in the geographic region ofinterest, as described in greater detail herein.

The public safety information controller 10 further includes a projectorinterface 20. The projector interface 20 may correspond to one or moreprocessing elements and/or software/firmware components that areconfigured to generate instructions to a projector to display publicsafety information. For example, the projector interface 20 may generateinstructions corresponding to a laser image for projection via a laserprojector. The public safety information may correspond to the selectedgraphical object, such that, in response to the placement of thegraphical object over the graphical feature via the graphical userinterface 18, the associated projector may project a copy of thegraphical object onto the physical feature in the geographic region ofinterest based on the instructions generated via the projector interface20. Therefore, the associated projector may output a projected image ofthe placed graphical object on the physical feature in the geographicregion of interest to simulate collocation between the projected imageon the physical feature in the geographic region of interest and theplaced graphical object on the graphical feature in the virtual realityspace.

As described herein, the term “simulated collocation” (and itsderivatives) with respect to the graphical object and the projectedimage indicates that a position of the projected image in the geographicregion of interest corresponds to a position in the virtual realityspace 14 that represents a same position in the geographic region ofinterest, and vice versa. In this manner, the projected image and theplaced graphical object that have a simulated collocation appear to beat substantially the same position in the virtual reality space 14 andthe geographic region of interest. Therefore, the placement of thegraphical object on the graphical feature (e.g., a graphicalrepresentation of a building) in the virtual reality space 14 via thegraphical user interface 18 results in projection of the projected imagecorresponding to the graphical object onto the physical feature (e.g.,the actual building represented by the graphical building) atapproximately the same coordinate location. As an example, the virtualreality rendering engine 12 and/or the display system 16 may implementalignment of respective coordinate systems in the virtual reality space14 and the geographic region of interest and/or a pattern matchingalgorithm to implement the simulated collocation of the graphical objectand the projected image, as described herein.

As a result, the public safety information controller 10 may beimplemented to provide a projection (e.g., a laser projection) of publicsafety information onto a physical feature, such as a building, that isvisible to the people in the geographic region of interest. As anexample, the public safety information may include evacuation directionsand/or instructions, such as arrows, to lead people from a crowded areain an orderly fashion by directing the people to a least congested pathof exit (e.g., after a large public gathering or sporting event). Asanother example, the public safety information may correspond to detourinstructions that are visible to drivers in a traffic jam to indicate apreferred route of travel to avoid encountering a previous trafficaccident or construction zone. As another example, the public safetyinformation may correspond to instructions or directions to emergencyresponders, such as by indicating the location of an active shooter, afire, a safe entry zone, or a variety of other instructions to avoid,mitigate, or prevent danger.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a public safety information system 50in accordance with some embodiments. The public safety informationsystem 50 may correspond to the active hardware associated withgathering the video image data VID and providing the public safetyinformation, as well as the processing and computing componentsassociated with the public safety information controller. The publicsafety information system 50 includes an imaging platform 52. Theimaging platform 52 includes a camera interface system 54 and a laserprojection system 56. The imaging platform 52 may be mounted on anemergency response or public safety vehicle, such as mounted on alight/siren rack of a law-enforcement vehicle. Thus, the camerainterface system 54 and the laser projection system 56 may besubstantially collocated, as an example. For example, the camerainterface system 54 may be configured as a 360° depth camera interfaceconfigured to gather three-dimensional video image data VID in 360°about the imaging platform 52. Alternatively, as described in greaterdetail herein, the camera interface system 54 and the laser projectionsystem 56 may be mounted in disparate physical locations.

The public safety information system 50 also includes a public safetyinformation controller 58 that may be configured substantially similarto the public safety information controller 10 in the example of FIG. 1.The public safety information controller 58 includes a virtual realityrendering engine 60 that is configured to generate three-dimensionalvirtual rendering data, demonstrated in the example of FIG. 2 as “3D”,corresponding to a virtual reality space of the geographic region ofinterest (e.g., the virtual reality space 14 in the example of FIG. 1).In the example of FIG. 2, the virtual reality rendering engine 60receives video image data VID of the geographic region of interest thatis obtained via the camera interface system 54, and thus generates thevirtual reality space based on the video image data VID. As an example,the virtual reality rendering engine 60 may be configured to provide adirect photo rendering of the video image data VID to convert the imagefeatures of the geographic region of interest into correspondinggraphical features of the virtual reality space 14. Thus, the virtualreality space may visually correspond to the geographic region ofinterest, such that substantially all of the physical features of thegeographic region of interest are visually represented in the virtualreality space as respective graphical features.

The public safety information controller 58 also includes a displaysystem 62 having a display 63 that is configured to facilitate displayof the virtual reality space to a user, and to generate a virtualreality graphical user interface 64 to facilitate user interaction withthe virtual reality space. As an example, the display system 62 may beimplemented as a user wearable virtual reality interface and displaysystem, such as a goggles and/or a helmet, along with an associatedvirtual reality input device (e.g., gloves, a handheld controller, amouse and/or a keyboard, or the like). The virtual reality graphicaluser interface 64 includes a context menu 66 that may provide the userwith a selectable public safety context, such as corresponding to crowdcontrol, disaster evacuation, warnings of danger, emergency response,terrorist threats, or other selectable public safety contexts. Eachcategory of the context menu 66 includes a respective one of one or moreobject libraries 68 that each provides the capability of user selectionof a plurality of graphical objects. The user may select a context viathe context menu 66, and may thus select one or more graphical objectsfrom a respective one of the object libraries 68 that is associated withthe selected context to be placed on one or more of the graphicalfeatures in the virtual reality space via the virtual reality graphicaluser interface 64. The display system 62 also includes an electronicprocessor 65 that is configured to detect a user input indicative of aplacement of graphical objects in the virtual reality space As anotherexample, the context can be automatically selected based on receivedcontext data that corresponds to a variety of context-facilitatingfactors, such as based on dispatch data that may be indicative of a typeof incident, sensor data, or other types of inputs that may providecontext prior to initiation of the display system 62. For example, eachof the contexts in the context menu 66 may provide reference and access(e.g., via pointers) to a set of graphical objects that are provided ina single object library 68, such that only the set of graphical objectsmay be seen and accessed by the user in response to selection of thegiven context from the context menu 66.

The public safety information controller 58 further includes a projectorinterface 70. The projector interface 70 may correspond to one or moreprocessing elements and/or software/firmware components that areconfigured to determine a projection surface on the physical feature ofthe geographic region of interest based on the placement of graphicalobjects in the virtual reality space. In one embodiment, the projectorinterface 70 identifies coordinates at which the graphical objects areplaced in the virtual reality space. The projector interface 70determines projection coordinates on the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest, where the projection coordinatescorresponds to the identified coordinates in the virtual reality spacewhere the graphical objects are placed. The projector interface 70 mapsthe projection coordinates to the physical feature and identifies asurface on the physical feature that are permissible for the projectionof the graphical objects. The projector interface 70 generatesinstructions, demonstrated in the example of FIG. 2 as a signal INST, tothe laser projection system 56 to project the public safety informationassociated with the graphical object(s) selected from the respectiveobject library 68 onto the projection surface. Therefore, the laserprojection system 56 may output a projected image of the placedgraphical object on the projection surface in the physical feature ofthe geographic region of interest to simulate collocation between theprojected image on the physical feature in the geographic region ofinterest and the placed graphical object on the graphical feature in thevirtual reality space.

In the example of FIG. 2, the public safety information controller 58further includes a positional data controller 72. As an example, whenthe laser projection system 56 is instructed to project the graphicalobject onto the physical feature (e.g., building) in the geographicregion of interest, if the laser projection system 56 is not alignedorthogonally with respect to the surface of the physical feature, theprojected image of the graphical object will be distorted, as viewed byobservers. Therefore, the positional data controller 72 is configured tomonitor a position of the laser projection system 56 in real-time via asignal POS provided from the laser projection system 56 (or directlyfrom the imaging platform 52 on which the laser projection system 56 ismounted). In the example of FIG. 2, the positional data controller 72may generate positional relationship data PD associated with theposition of the laser projection system 56. While the positional datacontroller 72 is demonstrated as a separate component or elementrelative to the virtual reality rendering engine 60, it is to beunderstood that the positional data controller 72 may be integrated aspart of the virtual reality rendering engine 60.

In the example of FIG. 2, the positional relationship data PD isprovided to the display system 62, such that the display system mayascertain a positional relationship of the laser projection system 56relative to the graphical features of the virtual reality space based onthe three-dimensional virtual reality rendering data 3D from the virtualreality rendering engine 60. Therefore, the positional relationship ofthe user's view in the virtual reality space relative to the graphicalfeatures of the virtual reality space may likewise correspond to apositional relationship between the laser projection system 56 and thephysical features of the geographic region of interest based on thecommon coordinate system between the virtual reality space and thegeographic region of interest. Accordingly, the projector interface 70may be configured to generate the instructions INST for the laserprojection system 56 based on the positional relationship data tocommand the laser projection system 56 to project the projected image ata predetermined orientation on the physical feature irrespective of aposition of the laser projection system 56 relative to the surface ofthe physical feature. In other words, the projection of the graphicalobject on the surface of the physical feature may be provided asorthogonally centered and non-distorted, as viewed by observers,regardless of the position or orientation of the laser projection system56 relative to the surface of the physical feature.

As an example, in response to placement of the graphical object on thegraphical feature in the virtual reality space, the virtual realitygraphical user interface 64 may modify the graphical representation ofthe graphical object to the user based on the positional relationshipdata. In this manner, the virtual reality space may be displayed to theuser via the virtual reality graphical user interface 64 from a vantagepoint that simulates collocation of the user in the virtual realityspace and the imaging platform 52 in the geographic region of interest.Therefore, the virtual reality graphical user interface 64 maydemonstrate the graphical object on the graphical feature as it wouldappear to the user in the perspective as if the user was in thecorresponding physical location in the geographic region of interest(e.g., the physical location of the laser projection system 56).Therefore, the user may view the graphical object in the same manner asthe projected image from the orientation of the laser projection system56 relative to the projection surface in the physical feature, asobserved from the physical location of the laser projection system 56.Furthermore, because the positional data controller 72 may monitor theposition of the laser projection system 56 in real-time, the positionaldata controller 72 may facilitate generation of the instructions INST inreal-time based on the positional relationship data. As a result, thepositional data controller 72 may command the laser projection system 56to project the projected image at the predetermined orientation on thephysical feature irrespective of motion of the laser projection system56 relative to the projection surface in the physical feature, such asfrom a moving unmanned aerial vehicle or emergency response vehicle.

In addition, the public safety information controller 58 furtherincludes an environment database 74. The environment database 74 may beconfigured to store data that defines projection rules associated withlaser projection of graphical objects via the laser projection system56, as constrained by static or dynamic physical or ambientenvironmental conditions regarding the environment associated with thegeographic region of interest. For example, the environment database 74may store data associated with weather, temperature, and/or ambientlight associated with the geographic region of interest. As anotherexample, the environment database 74 may store data associated with thephysical features of the geographic region of interest, such as thetexture and/or materials associated with the surfaces of the physicalfeatures (e.g., brick, stucco, windows, contours, or the like). In theexample of FIG. 2, the environment database 74 is demonstrated asreceiving an external signal ENV_DT that may correspond to real-time orpredetermined updates to the data stored in the environment database 74,such that the projection rules associated with laser projection ofgraphical objects via the laser projection system 56 may besubstantially continuously updated.

In the example of FIG. 2, the display system 62 may be configured toaccess the environment database 74 based on the selected graphicalobject that is placed on the respective graphical feature in the virtualreality space, such that the data stored in the environment database 74may be used to modify the instructions INST generated by the projectorinterface 70. For example, the environment conditions associated withthe geographic region of interest, as stored in the environmentdatabase, may affect the laser projection of the graphical object ontothe surface of the physical feature in the geographic region ofinterest. Accordingly, the data stored in the environment database 74may be implemented to change the laser projection of the graphicalobject to facilitate better viewing by the observers in the geographicregion of interest, such as, for example, by selecting specific colors,projection line thicknesses, or any other manner of modifying the laserprojection.

As another example, the projection rules associated with laserprojection of graphical objects via the laser projection system 56, asdefined by the data stored in the environment database 74, may includeprojection restrictions. For example, the projection restrictions may bebased on known dynamic conditions associated with the geographic regionof interest (e.g., flight space of helicopters or other aircraft), ormay be based on prohibitive static conditions associated with thephysical features of the geographic region of interest. Therefore, thedisplay system 62 may check the environment database 74 to detectwhether the placement of the graphical object on the graphical feature,and thus projection of the corresponding projected image onto anidentified projection surface of the physical feature, violates theprojection rules based on the projection being on an impermissiblelocation in the geographic region of interest. In response to theplacement of the graphical object on the graphical feature violating theprojection rules, the projector interface 70 may prevent the projectionof the projected image onto the identified projection surface on thephysical feature via the instructions INST (e.g., provide noinstructions). Additionally, the virtual reality graphical userinterface 64 may indicate the violation of the projection rules to theuser, and may further automatically display the graphical object at adifferent surface corresponding to a suggested repositioning location inthe virtual reality space that does not violate the projection rule.Therefore, the user may accept the suggested repositioning location asthe placement of the graphical object, or may select a differentgraphical feature on which to place the graphical object.

As a result, the public safety information system 50 may be implementedto provide a laser projection of public safety information onto aphysical feature, such as a building, that is visual to the people inthe geographic region of interest in a variety of ways, as described ingreater detail herein with reference to FIGS. 3-9.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example diagram 100 of a virtual reality graphicaluser interface 102 in accordance with some embodiments. The virtualreality graphical user interface 102 may correspond to the virtualreality graphical user interface 64 in the example of FIG. 2, and maythus correspond to user controls for controlling the public safetyinformation controller 58 in the example of FIG. 2 for projecting theprojected image onto the physical feature of the geographic region ofinterest. Therefore, reference is to be made to the example of FIG. 2 inthe following description of the example of FIG. 3.

The virtual reality graphical user interface 102 demonstrates a virtualreality space 104 that could have been generated by the virtual realityrendering engine 60 (e.g., via the camera interface system 54). In theexample of FIG. 3, the virtual reality space 104 is demonstrated as aset of three buildings 106, 108, and 110 that may correspond to threerespective buildings in the geographic region of interest. The virtualreality graphical user interface 102 also includes a context menu 112.The context menu 112 provides the user with a selectable context ofpublic safety. The context menu 112 demonstrates a danger context 114,an evacuation context 116, an information context 118, and may includeadditional contexts. The virtual reality graphical user interface 102also includes a graphical object library 120 that demonstrates a set ofgraphical objects that may be selected by the user.

In the example of FIG. 3, the danger context 114 is selected. Therefore,in the example of FIG. 3, the graphical object library 120 is populatedby graphical objects that correspond to dangerous or hazardoussituations, and thus the danger context 114. In the example of FIG. 3,the graphical objects include a fire 122, an active shooter 124, and atext block 126 that may allow the user to program specific text to beprojected onto the physical feature via the laser projection system 56.Therefore, as described herein, the user may select a graphical objectfrom the graphical object library 120 and place the graphical object ona graphical feature, such as one of the buildings 106, 108, or 110. Inresponse, the projector interface 70 may generate the instructions INSTfor the laser projection system 56 to project a laser imagecorresponding to the placed graphical object onto the physical feature(e.g., one of the respective corresponding physical buildings) in thegeographic region of interest, as described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example diagram 150 of the virtual realitygraphical user interface 102 in accordance with some embodiments. Thediagram 150 demonstrates the evacuation context 116 as having beenselected by the user, to demonstrate a different example. Therefore, inthe example of FIG. 4, the graphical object library 120 is populated bygraphical objects that correspond to directions for pedestrians or cars,such as in response to a traffic accident or for crowd control toprovide directions for leaving a sporting event in an orderly fashion.In the example of FIG. 4, the graphical objects include a left arrow152, a right arrow 154, an up arrow 156, and a down arrow 158. As anexample, the graphical object library 120 of the evacuation context 116may include additional graphical objects, such as the text block 126 inthe example of FIG. 3 or an accident location sign, a stop sign, a slowsign, and/or a yield sign. Therefore, as described in the followingexamples of FIGS. 4-9, the user may select a graphical object from thegraphical object library 120 and place the graphical object on agraphical feature, such as one of the buildings 106, 108, or 110. Inresponse, the projector interface 70 may generate the instructions INSTfor the laser projection system 56 to project a laser imagecorresponding to the placed graphical object onto the physical feature(e.g., one of the respective corresponding physical buildings) in thegeographic region of interest.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another example diagram 200 of the virtualreality graphical user interface 102 in accordance with someembodiments. The diagram 200 demonstrates the user placing one of thegraphical objects onto a graphical feature of the virtual reality space104. In the example of FIG. 5, the user input is demonstrated as a hand202 that has selected the right arrow 154 from the graphical objectlibrary 120. The user may thus perform a “click-and-drag” operation toselect the right arrow 154, such that a right-arrow icon 204 isdemonstrated as being moved by the hand 202 after the user selected theright arrow 154 from the graphical object library 120 and is moved ontothe graphical feature of the virtual reality space 104, demonstrated asthe graphical building 110. In addition, the user may also be able toperform additional gesture-type inputs with respect to positioning therespective graphical object (e.g., the right-arrow icon), such aszooming, rotating, changing color, or other types of ways to manipulatethe graphical object for placement (e.g., based on pinching,wrist-rotation, or other types of gestures).

FIG. 6 illustrates yet a further example diagram 250 of a virtualreality graphical user interface in accordance with some embodiments.The diagram 250 demonstrates the user having placed the right arrow icon204 onto the graphical building 110. In response, the virtual realitygraphical user interface 102 is configured to adjust the orientation ofthe right arrow icon 204 to correspond to the manner that acorresponding right arrow would appear if projected flat onto thesurface of the building in the geographic region of interestcorresponding to the graphical building 110 in the virtual reality space104. For example, the positional data controller 72 may provide thepositional relationship data PD corresponding to the position andorientation of the laser projection system 56 relative to the buildingin the geographic region of interest corresponding to the graphicalbuilding 110 in the virtual reality space 104. Therefore, the virtualreality graphical user interface 102 may orient the right arrow icon 204to appear in the virtual reality space 104 as the projected image of thecorresponding arrow would appear in the geographic region of interest.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a diagram 300 of providing publicsafety information in a geographic region of interest 302 in accordancewith some embodiments. The geographic region of interest 302 may bedisplayed in the virtual reality space 104 by video capturing thegeographic region of interest 302 by the camera interface system 54. Inthe example of FIG. 7, the geographic region of interest 302 isdemonstrated as a set of three buildings 304, 306, and 308 that maycorrespond to the buildings 106, 108, and 110 in the virtual realityspace 104. The geographic region of interest 302 also includes anemergency response vehicle 310 laser projecting a projected image 312 ofa right arrow that may correspond to the right arrow icon 204 that wasplaced on the graphical building 110 in the virtual reality space 104.Therefore, in response to the placement of the right arrow icon 204 onthe graphical building 110 in the virtual reality space 104 by the user,the display system 62 commands the projector interface 70 to generateinstructions INST to project a corresponding image of a right arrow ontoan identified projection surface in the building 308 of the geographicregion of interest 302. Accordingly, in response to the placement of theright arrow icon 204 on the graphical building 110 in the virtualreality space 104 by the user, the display system 62 simulatescollocation between the projected image 312 of the right arrow on thebuilding 308 in the geographic region of interest 302 and the placedright arrow icon 204 on the graphical building 110 in the virtualreality space 104.

It is to be appreciated that the public safety information controller 58may be configured to display multiple projections of the same ordifferent graphical objects based on the same or different imagingplatforms 52. For example, the public safety information system 50 mayinclude a plurality of imaging platforms 52 and/or a plurality ofvirtual reality graphical user interfaces 64 to display one or moregraphical objects onto one or more physical features onto a geographicregion of interest. Therefore, the public safety information system 50may be configured for a variety of different contexts and in a varietyof different manners.

FIG. 8 illustrates still yet another example diagram 280 of a virtualreality graphical user interface 102 in accordance with someembodiments. The diagram 280 shows the user having placed the rightarrow icon 204 onto the graphical building 110, as illustrated in FIG. 6and in response, the emergency response vehicle 310 laser projecting aprojected image 312 of a right arrow that corresponds to the right arrowicon 204, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

In the diagram 280, it is presumed that the projected image 312 of theright arrow on the building 308 has changed positions (e.g., due toenvironmental variables, such as temperature and/or wind). In such asituation, the video image data VID of the geographic region of interest302 captured by the camera interface system 54 reflects the change inposition of the projected image 312 of the right arrow on the building308. Accordingly, the video image data VID is fed back into the virtualreality rendering engine 60, and the virtual reality space 104 isupdated in near real-time to reflect a change in position of the rightarrow, indicated by the outline of the projected right arrow 282. Basedon the presence of the outline of the projected right arrow 282, thevirtual reality graphical user interface 102 can detect the change ofposition of the projected image 312.

In one example, in response to detecting the change of position, thevirtual reality graphical user interface 102 may be configured to adjustthe orientation of the outline of the projected right arrow 282 tore-align the right arrow icon 204 with the outline of the projectedright arrow 282 to compensate for the change in position of theprojected image 312. In another example, in response to detecting thechange of position, the virtual reality graphical user interface 102 maybe configured to adjust the orientation of the right arrow icon 204 tore-align with the outline of the projected right arrow 282 that reflectsthe change in position of the projected image 312. In yet anotherexample, the virtual reality graphical user interface 102 may beconfigured to reposition both the right arrow icon 204 and the outlineof the projected right arrow 282 at an average position (or some otherposition) to simulate collocation of the right arrow icon 204 and theoutline of the projected right arrow 282.

FIG. 9 illustrates still further yet another example diagram 290 of avirtual reality graphical user interface 102 in accordance with someembodiments. The diagram 290 shows the diagram 280 of the virtualreality space of FIG. 8 upon re-alignment of the outline of theprojected right arrow 282 (corresponding to a projected image 312 thatchanges positions) onto the icon of the right arrow 204. In response tothe realignment, the projector interface 70 identifies a repositionedprojection surface in the building 308 and generates instructions INSTfor the laser projection system 56 to output (e.g., adjust and/or finetune) the projected image 312 onto a repositioned projection surface inthe building 308 to simulate collocation between the projected image 312on the building 308 of the geographic region of interest and thegraphical building 110 of the virtual reality space 104.

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of a diagram 350 of providing publicsafety information in a geographic region of interest in accordance withsome embodiments. The geographic region of interest 302 may be displayedin the virtual reality space 104 by video-capturing by the camerainterface system 54. In the example of FIG. 10, the geographic region ofinterest 302 includes three buildings 304, 306, and 308 and theemergency response vehicle 310. In the diagram 350, the emergencyresponse vehicle 310 is shown as laser projecting a first projectedimage 352 of a left arrow that may correspond to a user having selectedand placed the left arrow 152 from the graphical object library 120 ontothe graphical building 110 in the virtual reality space 104. The diagram350 also demonstrates the emergency response vehicle 310 as laserprojecting a second projected image 354 of a fire icon that maycorrespond to a user having selected and placed the fire 122 from thegraphical object library 120 onto the graphical building 106 in thevirtual reality space 104.

As an example, the emergency response vehicle 310 may include twoseparate laser projection systems 56 that are commanded separately bythe projector interface 70, or by two separate respective projectorinterfaces, based on implementing user controls via the virtual realitygraphical user interface 64 or via two separate respective virtualreality graphical user interfaces 64. Alternatively, a single projectormay aggregate multiple graphical objects into a single projection by theprojector interface 70. The projection of the first and second projectedimages 352 and 354 may be based, for example, on implementing separatecontexts from the context menu 112, or separate graphical objects fromthe same graphical object library 120 associated with a given onecontext.

Accordingly, the public safety information system 50 may provideflexibility with providing public safety information. In the example ofFIG. 10, the public safety information system 50 may project the firstprojected image 352 on the building 308 to indicate to firefighters ageneral direction of where to find a burning fire, and may project thesecond projected image 354 on the building 304 to indicate to thefirefighters on which specific floor/location that the fire is burning.As a result, the firefighters may quickly and easily ascertain theemergency situation to allow the firefighters to more rapidly respond.

FIG. 11 illustrates yet another example of a diagram 400 of providingpublic safety information in a geographic region of interest 402 inaccordance with some embodiments. The geographic region of interest maybe displayed in a virtual reality space by video-capturing by the camerainterface system 54. The diagram 400 demonstrates the geographic regionof interest 402 in a top plan view to demonstrate an intersection 404 ofa city block that includes buildings 406, 408, 410, and 412. In thediagram 400, a first emergency response vehicle 414 is located in theintersection 404 of the city block. As an example, the first emergencyresponse vehicle 414 may include the camera interface system 54 that isconfigured to capture the video image data of the intersection 404 ofthe city block, including the features corresponding to the buildings406, 408, 410, and 412. The diagram 400 also includes a second emergencyresponse vehicle 416 that is laser projecting a first projected image418 corresponding to a left arrow on the building 412, and a thirdemergency response vehicle 420 that is laser projecting a secondprojected image 422 corresponding to a left arrow on the building 406.

As an example, the emergency response vehicles 416 and 420 may eachinclude a laser projection system 56 that is commanded by a commonprojector interface 70, or by two separate respective projectorinterfaces (such as located in the first emergency response vehicle 414or a dispatch center). Therefore, a common user may implement usercontrols via a virtual reality graphical user interface 64 or via twoseparate respective virtual reality graphical user interfaces toseparately command projection of the first and second projected images418 and 422. As yet another example, the first emergency responsevehicle 414 may include multiple camera interface systems, such asassociated with projection of each of the first and second projectedimages 418 and 422 via the respective second and third emergencyresponse vehicles 416 and 420. As yet a further example, multipleadditional camera interface systems that are disparately located (e.g.,via different emergency response vehicles) may be implemented to gathervideo image data of different portions of the geographic region ofinterest, such as to capture video image data of portions of thegeographic region of interest that are not able to be captured by asingle camera interface system. Therefore, in these examples, the videoimage data may be integrated via one or more virtual reality renderingengines to generate a single virtual reality space that may facilitateuser interaction from one or more separate display systems, such as fromeach of the second and third emergency response vehicles 416 and 420.

Accordingly, the public safety information system 50 may provideflexibility with providing public safety information via multipleemergency response vehicles or imaging platforms 52. In the example ofFIG. 11, the public safety information system 50 may implementprojection of the first projected image 418 on the building 412 and thesecond projected image 422 on the building 406 to indicate to people oremergency responders to travel in a general direction indicated by thearrow 424, such as to evacuate the area. As a result, people oremergency responders may quickly and easily ascertain the direction totravel in a safe and prudent manner.

In view of the foregoing structural and functional features describedabove, a method in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure will be better appreciated with reference to FIG. 12. While,for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the method of FIG. 12 isshown and described as executing serially, it is to be understood andappreciated that the present disclosure is not limited by theillustrated order, as some aspects could, in accordance with the presentdisclosure, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with otheraspects from that shown and described herein. Moreover, not allillustrated features may be required to implement a method in accordancewith an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 450 for providing safety information inaccordance with some embodiments. At 452, a virtual reality space (e.g.,the virtual reality space 14) of a geographic region of interest (e.g.,the geographic region of interest 302) with a graphical feature (e.g.,the graphical building 110) that represents a physical feature (e.g.,the building 308) of the geographic region of interest is generated viaa virtual reality rendering engine (e.g., the virtual reality renderingengine 12). At 454, a virtual reality graphical user interface (e.g.,the graphical user interface 18) with the generated virtual realityspace and a menu (e.g., the graphical object library 120) including aplurality of graphical objects (e.g., the graphical objects 122, 124,126) is displayed via a display (e.g., the display system 16). At 456, auser input indicative of a placement of a graphical object (e.g., thearrow 204) in the virtual reality space is detected via the virtualreality graphical user interface by the electronic processor 65. At 458,a projection surface on the physical feature of the geographic region ofinterest based on the placement of the graphical object in the virtualreality space is determined by the projector interface 70. In oneembodiment, the projector interface 70 identifies coordinates in thevirtual reality space corresponding to the placement of the graphicalobject, determines projection coordinates on the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest corresponding to the identifiedcoordinates in the virtual reality space, and identifies a surface onthe physical feature by mapping the determined projection coordinates tothe physical feature. Further, the projector interface 70 determineswhether the identified surface violates a projection rule that definesat least one of surfaces permissible for the projection of at least oneof the graphical objects. If the identified surface does not violate theprojection rule, the projector interface 70 selects the identifiedsurface as the projection surface, otherwise the projector interface 70selects a different surface on the physical feature that does notviolate the projection rule.

Next at 460, instructions for a projector (e.g., the laser projectionsystem 56) to project an image (e.g., the projected image 312) of theplaced graphical object on the physical feature is generated via aprojector interface (e.g., the projector interface 20) to simulatecollocation between the projected image on the physical feature in thegeographic region of interest and the placed graphical object on thegraphical feature in the virtual reality space. In one embodiment, theprojector interface 70 generates instructions that include projectionparameters that are determined based on at least one of a presentenvironmental state associated with the geographic region of interest,texture of the identified projection surface, and layout of theidentified projection surface. In one embodiment, the projectionparameters are determined further based on the positional relationshipdata associated with the projector relative to the projection surface toprovide a predetermined orientation of the projected image on theprojection surface irrespective of a position of the projector relativeto the projector surface. In one embodiment, the projector interface 70identifies one other projection surface on the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest based on the placement of the at least oneof the graphical objects in the virtual reality space and generatesinstructions for at least one other projector (placed in a disparatelocation) to project the placed graphical object on the one otherprojection surface in the physical feature of the geographic region ofinterest.

In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have beendescribed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates thatvarious modifications and changes may be made without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly,the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrativerather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intendedto be included within the scope of present teachings.

The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) thatmay cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is definedsolely by the appended claims including any amendments made during thependency of this application and all equivalents of those claims asissued.

Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and second,top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish oneentity or action from another entity or action without necessarilyrequiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between suchentities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has”,“having,” “includes”, “including,” “contains”, “containing” or any othervariation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, suchthat a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,includes, contains a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by“comprises . . . a”, “has . . . a”, “includes . . . a”, “contains . . .a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence ofadditional identical elements in the process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. The terms“a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly statedotherwise herein. The terms “substantially”, “essentially”,“approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined asbeing close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and inone non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, inanother embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and inanother embodiment within 0.5%. The term “coupled” as used herein isdefined as connected, although not necessarily directly and notnecessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is “configured” ina certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also beconfigured in ways that are not listed.

It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of one ormore generic or specialized processors (or “processing devices”) such asmicroprocessors, digital signal processors, customized processors andfield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and unique stored programinstructions (including both software and firmware) that control the oneor more processors to implement, in conjunction with certainnon-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of themethod and/or apparatus described herein. Alternatively, some or allfunctions could be implemented by a state machine that has no storedprogram instructions, or in one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certainof the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, acombination of the two approaches could be used.

Moreover, an embodiment may be implemented as a computer-readablestorage medium having computer readable code stored thereon forprogramming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform amethod as described and claimed herein. Examples of suchcomputer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, ahard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storagedevice, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read OnlyMemory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a Flashmemory. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill,notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choicesmotivated by, for example, available time, current technology, andeconomic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principlesdisclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such softwareinstructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it may be seen that various features aregrouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

I claim:
 1. A method for projecting graphical objects, the methodcomprising: generating a virtual reality space of a geographic region ofinterest, the virtual reality space including a graphical featurerepresenting a physical feature of the geographic region of interest,wherein the physical feature corresponds to a real-word structure ontowhich a real image of a graphical object is to be projected to provide avisual of the graphical object to people occupying the geographic regionof interest; displaying a virtual reality graphical user interface (GUI)including the generated virtual reality space and a menu having aplurality of graphical objects; detecting a user input indicative of aplacement of at least one of the graphical objects in the virtualreality space; determining a projection surface on the physical featureof the geographic region of interest based on the placement of the atleast one of the graphical objects in the virtual reality space, whereinthe projection surface corresponds to a real-world surface that is inphysical contact with at least a portion of the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest; and generating instructions for aprojector to project a real image of the at least one of the graphicalobjects onto the projection surface in the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest for simulating collocation between theprojected image on the physical feature in the geographic region ofinterest and the placed graphical object on the graphical feature in thevirtual reality space, wherein the real image is visible to peopleoccupying the geographic region of interest.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein displaying the virtual reality GUI comprises: receiving contextdata associated with a public safety context; selecting graphicalobjects corresponding to the context data; and displaying the virtualreality GUI including the generated virtual reality space and the menuhaving the selected graphical objects.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: displaying a plurality of public safety contexts; detectinga user input indicative of a selection of one of the plurality of publicsafety contexts; and filtering the menu to include graphical objectscorresponding to the selected public safety context.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining the projection surface comprises:identifying coordinates in the virtual reality space corresponding tothe placement of the least one of the graphical objects; determiningprojection coordinates on the real-world surface that is in physicalcontact with at least the portion of the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest corresponding to the identifiedcoordinates in the virtual reality space; and identifying a surface onthe physical feature of the geographic region of interest by mapping thedetermined projection coordinates to the physical feature.
 5. The methodof claim 4, further comprising: determining whether the identifiedsurface violates a projection rule defining at least one of surfacespermissible for the projection of the at least one of the graphicalobjects; and selecting the surface as the projection surface when theidentified surface does not violate the projection rule.
 6. The methodof claim 5, further comprising: identifying a different surface on thephysical feature that does not violate the projection rule, when theidentified surface violates the projection rule; displaying the at leastone of the graphical objects at the different surface corresponding to asuggested repositioning location in the virtual reality space that doesnot violate the projection rule; and receiving a user input acceptingthe suggested repositioning location as the placement of the graphicalobject, and responsively generating instructions for the projector toproject the real image of the at least one of the graphical objects ontothe different surface in the physical feature of the geographic regionof interest.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the virtualreality space comprises: obtaining three-dimensional (3D) virtualrendering data corresponding to the physical feature of the geographicregion of interest; and generating the virtual reality space based inpart on the three-dimensional virtual rendering data.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the instructions for the projector include projectionparameters that are determined based on at least one of a presentenvironmental state indicating at least one of weather, temperature, andambient light associated with the geographic region of interest, textureof the projection surface, and layout of the projection surface.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include projectionparameters that are determined based on a positional relationship dataassociated with the projector relative to the projection surface toprovide a predetermined orientation of the projected image on theprojection surface irrespective of a position of the projector relativeto the projection surface.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: identifying one other projection surface on the physicalfeature of the geographic region of interest based on the placement ofthe at least one of the graphical objects in the graphical feature; andgenerating instructions for at least one other projector to project theat least one of the graphical objects onto the one other projectionsurface in the physical feature of the geographic region of interest,wherein the projector and the at least one other projector are atdisparate locations.
 11. A system for projecting graphical objects, thesystem comprising: a virtual reality (VR) rendering engine configured togenerate a virtual reality space of a geographic region of interest, thevirtual reality space including a graphical feature that represents aphysical feature of the geographic region of interest, wherein thephysical feature corresponds to a real-world structure onto which a realimage of a graphical object is to be projected to provide a visual ofthe graphical object to people occupying the geographic region ofinterest; a display system comprising an electronic processor and adisplay, the display system coupled to the VR rendering engine, whereinthe display is configured to display a virtual reality graphical userinterface (GUI) including the generated virtual reality space and a menuhaving a plurality of graphical objects, and the electronic processor isconfigured to detect a user input indicative of a placement of at leastone of the graphical objects in the virtual reality space; and aprojector interface coupled to the display system, the projectorinterface configured to determine a projection surface on the physicalfeature of the geographic region of interest based on the placement ofthe at least one of the graphical objects in the virtual reality space,wherein the projection surface corresponds to a real-world surface thatis in physical contact with at least a portion of the physical featureof the geographic region of interest, and generate instructions for aprojector to project a real image of the at least one of the graphicalobjects onto the projection surface in the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest for simulating collocation between theprojected image on the physical feature in the geographic region ofinterest and the placed graphical object on the graphical feature in thevirtual reality space, wherein the real image is visible to peopleoccupying the geographic region of interest.
 12. The system of claim 11,further comprising a camera interface configured to generate image dataof the geographic region of interest, and wherein the VR renderingengine generates the virtual reality space based in part on the imagedata.
 13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a depth camerainterface configured to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image data ofthe geographic region of interest, and further wherein the VR renderingengine generates the virtual reality space based in part on the 3D imagedata.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the display is configured to:receive context data associated with a public safety context; anddisplay the menu having graphical objects corresponding to the publicsafety context.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the virtual realityGUI further includes a plurality of public safety contexts, and inresponse to a user input selecting one of the plurality of public safetycontexts, the virtual GUI filters the menu to include graphical objectscorresponding to the selected public safety context.
 16. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the projector interface is further configured to:identify coordinates in the virtual reality space corresponding to theplacement of the at least one of the graphical objects; determineprojection coordinates on the real-world surface that is in physicalcontact with at least the portion of the physical feature of thegeographic region of interest corresponding to the identifiedcoordinates in the virtual reality space; identify a surface on thephysical feature of the geographic region of interest by mapping thedetermined projection coordinates to the physical feature; and selectthe surface as the projection surface based on a determination that theidentified surface does not violate a projection rule defining at leastone of surfaces permissible for the projection of the at least one ofthe graphical objects.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the displayis configured as a user-wearable virtual reality interface and displaysystem.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein the virtual realityrendering engine is configured to generate the virtual reality space ofthe geographic region of interest based on video image data that isgenerated via a plurality of camera interfaces that are located at arespective plurality of disparate locations, wherein the virtual realityrendering engine is configured to integrate the video image datagenerated via the plurality of camera interfaces to generate the virtualreality space.